


Helpless strings

by GreenCarrotCake



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: ??? -Character, F/M, M/M, Polyamory, Red String of Fate AU, Soulmate AU, Threesome - F/M/M, idk I haven't written fanfics in a while
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-10-17 16:48:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10598121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenCarrotCake/pseuds/GreenCarrotCake
Summary: Arthur had always been able to see the red strings on people's pinkies. A red string that connected people together, a string made of love. Some were connected by multiple strings, some only one, and some none at all.That's how Arthur thought he was. Whenever he looked down on his own hand, he saw nothing. No string to connect him to anyone. He thought that it was probably because he didn't have a soulmate, he didn't mind much, Love never seemed like something he wanted to be a part of.





	1. Chapter 1

Arthur was sitting in the back seat of the van. Lewis was driving and Vivi sat beside him, and Mystery rode shotgun.

 

“Why does Mystery get to sit in the front in MY van?” He complained to them, not liking feeling left out. “He’s a dog… and it's my van…” He sunk into the back of Mystery’s seat with a frown.

 

“Becaaaaauuuse, Arty,” Vivi dragged out the word, smiling at Lewis. “Mystery was the one to find this mission! I think the lil’ guy deserves to sit in the front for once!” She continued cheerfully, petting Mystery’s head with her hand.

 

Arthur couldn't help but noticing the thin red thread wrapped around her little finger, it could barely be seen through the red parts of Mystery’s mane, but Arthur always knew which one it was. He looked over at Lewis’s hand, his string was connected to Vivi’s. He had known that those two were soulmates ever since he first met them, but it still stung. He was happy for them though, he even gave them small nudges towards the right direction so that they would finally get together instead of acting like oblivious ducklings.

 

“I agree with Vivi, just let Mystery have some fun, Arthur.” Lewis was smiling as well, but his eyes were on the road. Arthur looked out of the window, watching the crooked trees go by.

 

“...when will we even arrive? We’ve been driving for like 40 minutes by now…” Arthur asked after a few moments.

 

“Actually, we’re here now!” Vivi announced, she immediately pushed Lewis out of the van to get out and start exploring.

 

When they finally got out, there was a big cave with an oddly green light coming out of it. Arthur did not like it, he kept clinging to Lewis's back. They walked along a small path for a while, until they reached a split.

 

“Alright! I'm taking this path!” Vivi rushed towards the smaller path that seemed to be heading down.

 

“Vivi wait, is it really a good idea to go on your own?” Lewis stopped her, he had a worried look on his face.

 

“Fiiiineee, Mystery come with me buddy, we’re gonna explore this part of the cave!” Mystery seemed cautious, his eyebrows furrowed, but he nodded. “Lewis and Arthur, you two go together. Oh and Lewis, make sure Arthur stays safe, you know what kinda’ trouble he’s gotten into before~” Vivi said teasingly.

 

“Hey! It's not my fault some f-fuckers want my blood!” Arthur snapped back at her and pouted, Lewis and Vivi chuckled.

 

“I will make sure nothing attacks him, or gets his blood.” Arthur crossed his arms across his chest.

  
  


Vivi’s path lead to a huge opening, there were big spikes on the roof and from the bottom. There was also a green fog in there.

 

“Wowie… would you look at that, Mystery?” She turned around to look at Mystery, who, to her surprise, wasn't there.

 

“Buddy?”

  


Meanwhile, Lewis and Arthur had been walking along the bigger path, in lead them to a big cliff. Down from there Lewis could see sharp spikes coming out of the ground.

Arthur had a weird feeling in his left hand, he was shaking and felt cold. The weird feeling kept growing in Arthur’s hand and up his arm, it was reaching his face.

 

“L-Lewis…” Arthur let out shakingly. Lewis turned around to see him.

  
“Arthur why is y-your arm like that?!” Lewis was horrified at the green shade that was covering his friend’s arm and face. Suddenly, Arthur sprinted to Lewis and pushed him off the cliff.


	2. Chapter 2

Vivi could hear a loud scream from above. She looked up, the green fog was thick but she could still see something purple fall, she immediately recognised it.

 

Arthur was standing above the edge looking down, he couldn't see the familiar purple through the green fog. “N...no…” he could barely speak as tears were falling down his cheek. He didn't want to believe what he had done.

Suddenly, Arthur’s arm was gripped by strong fangs which tore through his skin. He let out a choked sob as his arm was torn off of his body. Mystery held Arthur’s arm in his mouth, the arm was still moving and trying to get away in his grip. Mystery had changed form into a huge seven-tailed wolf.

“Mys...st..eeery…?” The dog’s ears twitched, he looked at Arthur with a sudden shocked and worried expression. Where Arthur's arm used to be, was now an empty and bloody spot which Arthur was gripping for dear life. The green slowly faded from his face as his body felt colder.

 

 

Arthur eyes slowly fluttered open, a strong white light was shining in his eyes which made it hard to open them. He also felt something nudging his side and warm hands loosely holding his own, he turned his head to his left. Beside him was Mystery- now in dog form- nudging him with his snout. 

His heart immediately picked up speed as he remembered what had happened the last time he saw him. He let out a loud gasp and tried to move away and shove the dog away from him. But he couldn't. He looked at where his arm was supposed to be, but there was only a stump wrapped in bandages.

“WH-!” He jumped to his right, but hit something blue that let out a loud growl a few seconds after.

“Oh, Arty, you’re finally awake....” Vivi smiled at him sleepily, yet Arthur could only look at her with a horrified expression.

“Viv w-what’s going on?! How did we get here?!” He was close to panicking, Vivi could clearly see it. She squeezed his hand.

“Arty calm down, you need to rest.” She told him, but you could hear the slight bitterness in her voice. “We’re in the hospital. Mystery lead me to your unconscious body at the top on the cliff, you were bleeding badly so I had to call an ambulance. And Lewis-” He cut her off, remembering Lewis falling down right in front of his eyes.

“LEWIS?! O-OH GOD WHAT HAPPENED T-TO LEWIS?!” Arthur’s eyes filled with tears. He was shaking and stuttering. I killed him, didn't I? Was all he could think. Yet when he looked at her hands holding his own, he could still see a thin red thread.

“It hasn't turned b-black…?” He said quietly as he picked up her hand and looked at it intensely. Vivi furrowed her eyebrows, not understanding what he was talking about.

“Black-? No Arthur listen,” She said softly. “Lewis is okay. He fell against stalactite and rolled down, quite a few bruises but most importantly he’s okay. The doctors told me that it was better if I stayed in your room, so I did.” Vivi continued calmly, Arthur then noticed that she wasn't wearing her signature scarf. “Breath, Arty, it’s okay.” A doctor walked into the room.

“Miss, he’s awake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAH! DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING DID YA?!
> 
> OKAY OKAY After this chapter I will not change POV from Arthur. I know it was a bit confusing in the beginning but it was mostly for a dramatical effect. And I'll try to write longer chapters, I promise.  
> Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter and aren't too disappointed with me -v-'


	3. Chapter 3

“Yeah I can see-”

“I meant Mr. Pepper, he’s awake.”

“Oh!” Her eyes lit up in excitement once again, a look Arthur would never get tired of… but that wasn’t something he was going to voice out loud. “Arty come on, let's check on Lewis!” Vivi looked at him with expectation. Arthur glanced a bit off, feeling his cheeks warm up a bit. 

“I-I don't know, can I even walk around y-yet? Is that safe?”

“You can walk, just stay here in the hospital and make sure she's with you. Be careful.” The doctor responded while writing down some notes. “You might also want to hold onto her, you will feel a bit off balance without the arm for a while.” The doctor added. And with that Vivi grabbed him under the arm and pulling him a bit roughly out of bed.

“H-Hey careful Viv! That's m-my only arm left you know!” He joked, trying to hide the fact that he was nervous of how Lewis was going to react seeing him. He was going to hate him, Arthur was sure of that. But it did show.

“Are you really okay making jokes about that this early?” Vivi stopped, eyebrows furrowing, obvious worry. 

“I’m fine V-Viv, even the doctor said so.” He tried to reassure her, but she didn’t seem too convinced.

“Arthur don’t force yourself to get better, okay? Take your time to heal.” She gave him a caring smile, his heart felt like it was going to skip a beat. But he glanced down on her hand, immediately feeling guilty.

“She is right, while you may be alright physically- at least enough to walk- your mental health is important as well for your full recovery. If you force yourself you could potentially make it worse for yourself.” The doctor said with more care this time.

Vivi changed her grip on him a bit, then made him stand up. He almost fell over, but she caught him. She was being a lot more careful with him now.

“...I wasn't kidding. Now come on, his room is just down the hall.” Arthur looked at the doctor's left hand, which was wearing a golden ring, most likely a wedding ring. But he noticed the string, it was black and cut off. A sinking feeling filled his chest.

“I'm sorry for your loss.” He told the doctor while passing by. They snapped their head back at him.

“How did you-”

“Lucky guess.”

 

 

When they finally arrived outside of Lewis's door Arthur took a deep breath, but Vivi barged right in, dragging Arthur along.

“LEW-LEW~!” She seemed to have forgotten about being careful with Arthur, making him almost fall over with her sudden sprint.

“VIVI C-!” Arthur stumbled behind her, trying to grab something with his other arm- which he didn't have, and grabbed onto nothing. 

“Hey gang… what’s up?” Lewis said weakly, smiling at them and hugging back Vivi, who had flung her arms around his neck in no time, she was very happy to see him again. Mystery pawed on Arthur's leg for his attention, which caught him off guard. He jumped away from the dog, eyes wide open and feeling his heart pick up speed,

“Arthur? Are you okay?” Lewis asked him, eyes full of worry. “...and what happened to your arm?” 

“MYSTERY FUCKING B-” Arthur started, but Mystery cut him off with a warning bark, but looking at him apologetically right after. “Nothing, I don't remember…” 

“Lewis, how did you fall in the first place?” Vivi asked the dreadful question Arthur was hoping would not come up. His shoulders stiffened. 

“I… I don't know? I remember splitting up into groups, then I saw the cliff and then… and then I woke up here.” Lewis seemed unsure of himself, but that didn't make Arthur feel any better. 

“Oh. Do you think it had to do with the spirit in there?” Vivi didn’t seem too surprised by this. They had had a similar thing happen to them in a past mission. “Or do you think you just hit your head- oh right, no memories.” She stopped herself. The doctor stood in the doorway.

“He has no brain damage from what we’ve seen, so his memories should be fine. Unless this ‘Spirit’ took them away, of course. But it’s not uncommon for victims of accidents like this to have temporary amnesia. He will likely recover his memories within a few days or possibly weeks.” Lewis sighed and nodded. “You two have to stay here to recover for at least two more days before we can safely let you out.” And with that, the doctor left.

“Oh and Arty, I called Lance, he should be getting here soo-”

“WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS MY NEPHEW?!” A loud voice from the halls could be heard, a voice that Arthur knew too well.

“Speaking of the devil…” Lewis muttered. Lance walked inside the room just a moment after.

“Arthur there you- DEAR LORD WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM?!” Lance hurried over to them. “How did this happen?! What did these youngsters do to you this time-”

“Uncle L-Lance calm down, it’s not a big d-”

“YOUR WHOLE ARM IS GONE, ARTHUR! YES IT IS A BIG DEAL!” He shouted. Mystery stepped between them protectively, Lance immediately stepped back and calmed down. So did Arthur, but he didn’t calm down, he was clearly scared of the dog.  
“Just... please tell me what happened.” Lance said, more calmly this time. The three of them looked at each other, not knowing what to say, until Lewis finally spoke up.

“...We don’t actually know, sir, Arthur and I have both currently lost memories of the event, and Vivi wasn’t there to know.” He said hesitantly. Lance sighed and sat down on a chair, face in his hands. 

“Christ… What have you kids gotten yourself into…”

“Uncle, it will be alright. We are a-all, well, mostly alright, and I can build an arm. I b-built the thing for Galaham, the arm shouldn’t be much harder.” Arthur put his only hand on his shoulder, Lance grabbed his hand.

“Just don’t scare me like this again… She was a crying mess when she told me you were hurt, you know.” Arthur turned to Vivi, who was smiling nervously but nodding. He looked back at Lance and at his string, it was black and cut off, just like the doctor’s was. But with Lance’s, it had been like that for a long while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Longer chapter! I actually made it holy shit!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and aren't disappointed by that it changed quite a bit from canon now. I really enjoyed writing this chapter tbh, it was fun.
> 
> Next chapter will take place about a week after the happening of this one.


	4. Chapter 4

 

Arthur had been back from the hospital for three days, and during those days he only did three things: Eat, sleep, and work on his arm. And he barely did the first two.

 

“Arthur, dinner is upstairs. We have guests today.”

 

“Guests…?” Arthur got out of the workshop, not completely sure who Lance was talking about. When he finally got out, he could clearly smell a strong sweet, yet also spicy smell coming from the kitchen.

 

“Lewis, you’re adding too much spice to it again!” A familiar bubbly voice was giggling from the kitchen. “Arthur is going to cry over how spicy it is!”

 

“Ah let him spice it up, maybe it’ll bring some colour into my boy’s cheeks.” Lance  muttered.

 

“Thank you, sir.” 

 

“What’s going on-?” Arthur walked inside the kitchen, seeing Lewis cook something by the stove, Vivi holding him from behind and pecking his cheek. Lance was sitting by the table, reading some book about Wrestling.

 

“Arty! There you are- you look horrible!” Vivi turned to him and ran over to him and gave him a hug. “Did You get thinner?!” She felt on his stomach, not hesitating for a single second. 

 

“O-oh you know, a week of h-hospital food does this to you-” He lied, he had been out for a few days already, and Vivi knew.

 

“-Don’t lie to me! You’ve been out for three days already! Haven't you eaten anything at all during these days?” 

 

“He’s been eating, but only just about as much to get by…” Lance stated. Arthur didn't comment on the truth.

 

“And you let him?!”

 

“Who do you think I am? He’s a grown up man, I'm not going to force him to eat if he doesn't want to.”

 

“Leave it, Vivi, let's just eat.” Lewis put the food on the table, taking off the cloth. “Please? I worked hard on the food, and this is the first time we’ve seen him in a week.” They all quieted, sitting down by the table.

  
  
  
  


After they had finished eating, Lance finally left the table, claiming he was tired and was headed to bed.

 

“...Arthur,” Lewis started, looking over at Vivi. She grabbed his hand, their string seemed to wrap itself around their hands, but of course they didn't see it. Arthur wished he was holding their hands as well. “We’ve all known each other for a while, and Vivi and I talked a lot, and, well…”

 

“What would you say about moving in with us?” Vivi got straight to the point, finishing for him. Arthur was speechless, mouth opened as if to say something, eyes wide.

 

“W-W-What did you s-say?” Arthur stuttered out, his face was bright red. 

 

“We want you to move in with us. That way we can all go on more missions and have fun together!” Vivi seemed very enthusiastic about the idea, and Lewis smiled along and nodded. ‘ _yes, a million times yes!_ ’ Arthur thought, but when he glanced back on their strings, so cutely wrapped around them. 

 

“I-I can't. I’d just g-get in the way, and Lance n-needs me here in the shop! P-plus I haven't even finished the arm a-and-” Vivi cut him off.

 

“You won't get in the way!”

 

“We talked to Lance. He told us that you seemed so miserable here alone. And you could use the van to get here-”

 

“You two w-wouldn’t have any p-private time for yourselves!” 

 

“We’re not shy about affection so that wouldn't be a problem!” Vivi shot back.

 

“I'm b-basically useless without t-the arm!”

 

“Calm down! Both of you!” Lewis stood up, making the two of them stop up. “Arthur, why don't you think about it a bit more? You can make the decision after you’re done with the arm, there's no hurry into this.” He said with a more calm tone, almost soothing.

 

“Arty, we want you to be with you more, we want you to be happy.” Vivi said after a moment of calming down. Arthur looked down and nodded. 

 

“Anyway, Arthur, there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you since we were at the Hospital.”  He looked around the room. “...Are you scared of Mystery? You seemed very jumpy whenever he moved or touched you....” 

 

“Arthur? Being scared of Mystery? Why on earth would he be that?” Vivi said in disbelief and confusion. Arthur tried to laugh it off.

 

“Y-Yeah, what are you t-talking about, Lewis?” 

 

“Arthur, when Lance started shouting in the hospital, Mystery stepped in front of him to protect us, yet you jumped back the moment he did.” Vivi stayed silent, remembering that moment.

 

“I-I was just surprised! Can we just d-drop this topic now, I'm honestly sleepy a-as well.” Lewis seemed to be ready to say something, but he dropped it.

 

 

“Well… it's late, and we have no ride home…” Vivi started, Arthur already knew where she was going with that. He sighed and stood up.

 

“I'm going to clean off the couch for you two, just give me a second.” He walked over to the couch, cleaning off popcorn and other junk that was on it.  “There, finished. I’m going up to my room, good ni-” A pair of hands wrapped around his waist from behind.

 

“Not yet, why don’t we all watch a movie?” Vivi was standing behind him, grinning like a dork. His face immediately flushed red.

 

“I-I’m tired though…” Arthur wasn’t actually tired, he was rather awake.

 

“Oh come oooon, You can sleep with us ~ ” Vivi said suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows, knowing exactly what she just said. The blush on Arthur’s face only deepened, the same happened with Lewis.

 

“V-Viv…” Lewis covered his face with his hands, Vivi giggled.

 

“You can share the couch with us Arty, we’ve all slept on it before, no shame in it!” Vivi hugged him closer.

 

“F-fine…” Arthur gave up, he let himself be dragged to the couch. Lewis sat down on one end of it, leaning on the armrest. Arthur sat down on the other end and Vivi in the middle.

“Can I choose a movie?” Lewis asked.

 

“Are you going to choose a romcom or some drama?” Vivi raised an eyebrow.

 

“...Possibly.” Vivi sighed and turned to Arthur.

 

“Do you have any movie suggestions?”

 

“I-I think we should let Lewis choose this time, he chooses good movies to fall asleep to.”

 

“Hey! You’re not supposed to fall asleep to them!”

  
“Fiine, Lewis go ahead and choose a movie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this rather messy chapter, I wrote most of it while I was sleepy and I really wanted to get it out before midnight here so.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter anyway! Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

In the end, Lewis did chose a romance movie. He didn't particularly like it much himself, but it was the only one he could think of that he hadn't watched himself.

“Oh COME ON! If she likes them equally why doesn't she date them both?!” Vivi wasn't very fond of it either, criticising it every 5 minutes.

“I don't think the writers have been introduced to Polyamory, Viv.” Lewis commented with a sigh. Arthur was sitting on his end of the couch, rather bored. Vivi was spread on top of the boys, head on Lewis’s chest and legs on Arthur’s lap, she seemed very comfortable despite constantly insulting the movie.

“I don’t think any writers have been introduced to it. Honestly, all these love triangle dramas are starting to piss me off.” Vivi crossed her arms across her chest.

“Agreed. Maria Dolores could just as well date them both, then all this unnecessary drama could be resolved and we’d get to the main plot. What about her Aunt’s lost money? How is she ever going to get to the funeral?” Lewis added. Something in Arthur was very happy to hear it, noticing that he was paying more attention to what they were saying instead of the movie- which he wasn’t paying much attention to anyway. The fact that he could see the actor’s strings ruined the experience for him.

“I wonder what her family would say though, I’m not sure they’d be very accepting of their love.” Arthur joined the conversation. “Then again, a drama where she has to hide it from her parents would be more interesting than this garbage.” Arthur added. Lewis and Vivi looked at him, then at each other and smiled widely.

“So you support it?” Vivi asked, eyes hopeful. Arthur didn’t notice, he was looking at the screen.

“Of course, love should always be a basic right, in any shape or form. I don’t get why so many people are against it.” Arthur said with a shrug. Vivi’s smile grew bigger.

“Would you be in a relationship like that?” Vivi asked. Arthur’s cheeks flushed and his head snapped back at her.

“W-What?”

“Would you be in a polyam relationship?” This time, Lewis asked him. His cheeks were very red as well.

“I-... ye-yeah, I would…” Arthur fiddled with his fingers, sinking down in his seat a bit.

“Nice.” Vivi leaned back into Lewis, grinning like a dork. They were quiet for the rest of the movie, no one really paying much attention to it anymore. Around the end of it, Vivi and Lewis were making out. Arthur quickly stood up the moment he noticed.

“W-welp, that’s my sign to get going. You two have fu- uuun-!” Vivi grabbed his shirt and yanked him back to them. He fell right on top of her and Lewis. They laughed and wrapped their arms around him, trapping him. Vivi in particular hugged his face into her chest.

“You’re staying with us, Arthur.” Lewis smiled warmly at him, Vivi was still laughing.

“Wh- wouldn’t you t-two rather be alone?!” Arthur struggled and tried to get away, face even redder than before.

“Nah.” Vivi responded, smiling toothily. “Don’t you wanna cuddle with us, Arty?” She tilted her head, looking down at him. He wanted to shake his head as a no, but he also wanted to nod as yes. But doing that didn’t seem like the brightest idea, especially with Lewis around.

“I-I want you two to have a good time!” He said before he realised how suggestive that sounded. “I-I mean alone- I MEAN TOGETHER- FUCK!” He blubbered, sounding rather muffled in Vivi’s chest. She let out a snort.

“Struggling finding the right words?” She wiggles her eyebrows at him, Lewis covered his mouth.

“Viv he’s going to suffocate!” Lewis said between fits of laughter, not really minding the situation.

“Nah, he’ll be fiiine!” She said as she hugged him harder.

“HmMHhM-!” Arthur let out a surprised sound.

 

 

They had fallen asleep in that position in the end while watching another movie Lewis had chosen. Arthur was the first one to wake up again.

“...How do I end up in these situations…?” Arthur asked no one in particular, but mostly himself. He carefully got out of Vivi and Lewis's grip and got off the couch. Fortunately, or unfortunately for Arthur, Lewis was a light sleeper.

“Arthur…? Hey, where are you going?” Lewis eyes were still very lidded, and he didn't move so that Vivi wouldn't wake up. “You’re not leaving, are you?”

“...No, not anymore I guess…” Arthur sat back down, on the other end of the couch. “What’s up?” He somehow felt more at ease with Lewis in that moment.

“Oh, you know, the roof, and the sky,” He joked. “You still haven't answered my question from before.”

“... Yeah, sorry about that.” Arthur sighed. “I guess so, b-but you don't remember why, so.”

“Then my theory was correct, you do remember what happened.”

“W-What?”

“Your sudden change after what happened. Suddenly scared of Mystery, not eating, not even contacting us. It’s not like you, and if you didn't remember then you wouldn't act so differently now.” Lewis explained, he had been more observant than Arthur thought.

“...I’m s-sorry.” Arthur mumbled, he didn’t dare to look at Lewis. Lewis tried to move up to touch Arthur, but stopped halfway because Vivi was still asleep on him.

“Arthur… You can talk to me. We’re friends, aren’t we?” It stung, knowing that Lewis only saw him as a friend, It really did sting. But he nodded anyway. “Then please, talk to me. I want to know what’s going on with you, it hurts not knowing how to help.” Lewis had a painful expression on his face, not like physical pain, but emotional pain. “I can’t force you to talk to me, it’s not my place to do so. But please, let me help you…” He trailed off at the end, his voice almost sounding like a whisper.

“I-I…” Arthur glanced at them for a moment, their red string almost seeming to glow at him, taunt him. Mock him because of his feelings. “Can’t-... e-exactly… tell you…” He hugged his knees close to his chest.

“Why?”

“You w-wouldn’t believe me.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because no one ever d-did!” Lewis flinched at Arthur’s sudden raise of voice. Arthur noticed. “S-sorry...” He hid his face in his knees.

“I would believe you if you just told me. You know that I would trust you with my life, Arthur.” Arthur tensed up, remembering what he did on the cliff.

“You-you would hate me i-if you knew…”

“I wouldn’t hate you, Arthur. You’re my best friend. Nothing you can do can make me hate you.” There it was again, a huge sting right into his heart. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes.

“Lewis stop…” It came out as a quiet whisper, one which Lewis didn’t hear.

“Friendship is built on trust. Why won’t you trust me-”

“-SHUT.UP.!” Arthur shouted, a pained and tearful shout. He stood up again, this time running out of the room and into the shop. Vivi woke up.

“Lew-lew what’s going on..?” She said in a raspy and sleepy voice. A tear ran down Lewis’s cheek.

“Arthur…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO EVERYONE! A day later than usual but oh well
> 
> Yes it ended with a lil' angst here
> 
> And finally I'm gonna be able to introduce Vivi's family soon since there is finally an official post about them! Next chapter will most likely contain the gangs's families, so just you wait!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! please do leave a comment about your theories and opinions and that junk as it keeps me motivated to continue writing!


	6. Chapter 6

Arthur went back to the shop. He threw on his glove and immediately went back to work on his arm, he thought that it was a better idea than to go to his room and sulk, but in the shop he was at least doing something useful. He stayed there for a few hours, his head slowly dropping more often from exhaustion.

“OUCH-!” He jerked back his hand and dropped the tool he was holding, he had spaced out and accidentally zapped himself on a wire in the arm. Even though it didn’t even hurt that bad, his eyes teared up and he was too tired to keep them back. Quiet sobs escaped him.

“Arthur…” A voice behind him spoke, he jumped a bit, before realising that it’s just Vivi.

“You’re distracting me from work, Viv…”

“That’s what I do best.” She walked up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You really need rest, Arty…” He grabbed his tools again, going back to work.

“But I’m already this close, look!” Arthur grabbed the arm and connected it to his stump, he flinched a bit. “I can move the hand up and down already!” his robotic hand did indeed move up and down on the wrist, he could also move the fingers a bit.

“Already? How did y- No! Arthur, you need rest.” Vivi seemed very impressed for a moment, before her eyebrows furrowed together again. 

“Viv I’m already this close-” She grabbed his shoulders, staring down at him, her face got closer than he expected.

“Rest.”

“V-Vivi-”

“Take the arm off.”

“W-What?”

“Take it off. The arm. Now.” She demanded, and he followed. She immediately wrapped her arms around his chest and picked him up.

“V-VIVI?!” He was NOT expecting getting picked up, much less by someone who's half a head shorter than himself.

“You should've listened to me earlier!” She shouted back at him while throwing him over her shoulder. “Never underestimate a Yukino!”

“Vivi put me down-! W-WHAT ARE YOU TOUCHING?!”

“Oh nothing at all~”

“Vivi I swear I will-... will…” he suddenly felt very tired, slowly stopping struggling. He felt a strange comfort being carried by her.

“Ooh it works!”

 

The next time Arthur woke up he was in the back seat of the van, head on something warm and something fuzzy curled up against his side. He opened his eyes.

“Shhh, you can sleep a while longer Arty…” A soothing voice from above him spoke, and a hand gently stroking his hair. “Drive a bit gentler, Lew-lew, he woke up.”

“Roger.” The person behind the wheel spoke. Arthur slowly relaxed again, falling asleep.

 

Arthur this time didn't wake up on his own, but was shook awake when small paws walked on his chest. 

“Gghk- Myste-MYSTERY?!” He jerked his head up and shoved the poor dog off of himself. Mystery whined.

“Arty be careful with him! You could’ve hurt him!”

“HE BIT OFF MY ARM!”

“Wait what?” Vivi and Lewis said in union. Arthur realised what he had said. Mystery looked anxious, glancing down.

“I-I mean-”

“What do you mean Mystery bit off your arm?” Lewis asked, driving the van to the side of road to stop. Arthur suddenly felt cornered. 

“W-Well what the hell am I doing here?! Did you guys kidnap me or something?!” He tried to change the topic. “Where are we going, huh?!”

“To Vivi’s family shrine.”

“Why-?!” Arthur asked more rudely than he had intended. “I mean-what's the occasion?”

“Because.” Vivi answered, more as a statement. “Now explain what you meant before, Arty.” She was oddly serious, it caught Arthur off guard.

“I-I don't kn-know what you’re talking about…” 

“Arthur.” They both said simultaneously. He didn't answer, just stayed quiet and tried to go back to sleep. So Vivi and Lewis gave up, for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm back! Sorry for the short chapter, I've been really busy and I wanted to get something out today so here it is.  
> I might go back to making these shorter chapters. You can comment what you'd rather have:
> 
> Shorter chapters but more frequent updates?  
> or  
> Longer chapters but less frequent updates?  
> Please comment what you'd rather have!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

When they finally arrived at the Yukino Shrine, Lewis seemed very uncomfortable, looking around himself anxiously.

“Lew-lew?” Vivi grabbed his hand, eyes full of worry. Arthur stepped closer to them, but still keeping a small but painful distance. “Are you okay?”

“...I’m fine, Viv. Just a bit… cautious.” Lewis answered, not looking down to look at them. Arthur looked at the pillars, they were all covered in a familiar red thread. It was so thickly tied on the pillar, he couldn't see through it, he touched the pillar, trying to see if those were real strings or red strings. Vivi walked up to him. 

“Are the pillars interesting or something?” She asked him. “They’re just brown?” There was his confirmation, he wondered how those strings were so tightly wrapped together on that pillar, and none of them being black.

“Brown huh?” He did wish he could see the brown. They moved along.

“Lewis, seriously, you seem paranoid of something.” Vivi said more seriously.

“Really Viv it’s nothing. I’m just- admiring the view! Yeah! That’s what I'm doing…!” he put on a smile, but Arthur could clearly tell that it was fake.

“Dude… you’re acting more tense than Mystery…” He said rather quietly, almost like a mumble. But they heard him. 

“Just tell us what’s wrong already, please?” Vivi was looking at him, softer this time. “You both really need to talk to me more.” she muttered.

“I'm fine guys, really.” Lewis wasn't very convincing. “You don't have to worry about me.”

“Oh nu-huh mister! You are not going inside until you tell me what’s wrong!” She yelled out, making the other two tense up. “I’m so tired of you guys not telling me anything! Arthur, you won't answer any of my questions and have been acting weird ever since that happened! And Lewis, you won't tell me why you’ve been acting weird! What even is wrong with you two?! Did the doctors put you on something weird?!” She was frustrated, she had been ever since the accident from before. Vivi had had enough with their shit. She hated not knowing what was wrong, and she hated that because of that she didn’t know how to help. But those frustrations had turned into pure anger. “Actually, you know what?! I’m leaving! Lewis you can go clean Arthur alone, maybe you two will actually talk to each other about what the fuck is wrong!” She turned on her heel, and went straight back to the van.

“Vivi wai-” Arthur tried, but she cut him off.

“No! Lewis go clean him!” Vivi yelled back, stepping inside the van.

“It’s no use. Let’s just go, she will get here eventually.” Lewis sighed.

“Alright… what did she mean by clean? This is a shrine, not a bathhouse, right?” Lewis caught on, hiding his face a bit not to show his light blush. 

“N-no, not like that… She said her grandma could clean you.” That didn’t make Arthur feel any better.

“Ex-excuse me what?”

“C-clean you from spirits and ghosts or whatever. She said that maybe something cast a curse on you that made you loose an arm or something, since she didn’t bring her protection charm.” Lewis explained, making Arthur feel a bit better. He wasn’t up for some old lady touch him while he’s naked.

“Oh thank god…” Arthur let out a relieved sigh. An arm wrapped around his shoulders suddenly, a friendly gesture. Lewis’s face was more red now, which only made Arthur blush himself.

“...We’re good, right?” Arthur smiled at Lewis’s shyness, it was a prt of him that Arthur thought was cute. 

“Yeah, we’re good man.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so this one took longer than I thought, I have been rather busy lately, sorry!
> 
> Anyway thank you for reading this chapter! I hope that you won't mind me posting a bit shorter chapters for a bit, since that would make me update for frequently and thus would honestly make me feel much better.
> 
> Please do leave a comment about your thoughts! I always appreciate your comments and thoughts!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

Arthur and Lewis were being chased off by Grandma Yukino with a staff. It wasn't pretty.

“GO AWAY EVIL SPIRIT! BE GONE!” The old lady was yelling behind them. She had already hit them a few times with that staff, mostly in the head. Sometimes on the butt.

“Why i-is she acting like that?! She's never been this mean to us!” Arthur yelled a bit out of breath at Lewis.

“I-I don't know! She's only ever been that way towards Mystery!” Lewis yelled back. He was pulling Arthur by the wrist to run faster. For being an old lady, she was fast. When they finally arrived in the van, Vivi was standing outside. 

“Grandma why are you running after Lewis and Arthur?!” Vivi yelled out in worry and confusion. After that, their conversation went on in a way Arthur didn't understand, he guessed in Japanese.

Lewis and Arthur hid in the back, awkwardly listening to their conversation, only understanding a few words here and there. After a few minutes of angry Japanese arguing, Vivi opened the door in the front and slammed the door closed.

“THOSE BOYS ARE CURSED VIVI! CURSED!” Was the last thing they heard before the van bolted forwards and away.

“...Viv are you al-” Lewis tried, but was cut off.

“I’m fine. She claims that you two possessed by some spirits.” She answered, almost coldly. But you could hear the care. “I’ve always believed her when she said things like this, but this time she’s just crazy. You two? Possessed by ghosts? With MY Protection cha-” she stopped in the middle of the sentence, remembering something. “... I didn't… have my charm on me… that night…”

The rest of the ride was quiet. No one spoke, only a few whines from Mystery could be heard every now and then. They dropped Arthur off at his place, then went home.

 

A few more days had passed, and Arthur had gotten back to his previous schedule: Work, work, eat, work, pass out. And again.

“Galahad no… I’ve almost finished it…” The hamster had stolen a few wires from Arthur's exhausted hand. He tried to smack back his hand to get them, but only almost fell over due to his headache. He growled in pain, rubbing his head and messing up his hair for the millionth time. 

The arm was practically finished, he could move all the joints and move it up and down, all fingers were working too. He was just working on getting in better wires into it.

“I wonder what Vivi and Lewis are up to…” he looked over at his phone, it read 11:34PM, 2 missed calls and 21 new messages. The messages and calls had been from the day before, he guessed that they had given up on him already. Lance hadn't checked up on him much either, but that could’ve just been because he was busy. He put away the phone.

Suddenly, a loud SLAP sound was heard from his door. Arthur weakly stood up, almost tripping over a tire, but catching the edge of the desk. He walked over to the door.

“Hello…?” Arthur maundered, opening it. No one was there- nothing but a poster on the door. It read: 

PEPPER PARADISO ANNIVERSARY

Along with the date, pictures of their most popular dishes, pictures of the owners and workers, and customers eating the foods. A few dollars were taped to the bottom of the poster, he guessed that was what the slapping sound was from. It was happening the next day- almost the same day because of the time. 

Arthur sighed, taking the dollars and removing the almost finished arm. He went  
Upstairs, thinking that it was probably a better idea to sleep before going to an event.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the REALLY late update, I've been really busy lately, but it's better now.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please do leave a comment about your ideas as it motivates me to continue writing!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DON'T WORRY! I'M ALIVE! AND AM SO SORRY FOR THE LACK OF UPDATES BUT THINGS GOT IN THE WAY!  
> But I hope you enjoy this extra long chapter! Please do leave more comments so that I actually have the motivation to write more!

Arthur looked around. Around him were thousands- possibly millions of thin, red threads. Everywhere he looked, they were there, reaching from the ground and to the roof, through walls and floors. The strange thing was, that there was no one there. Not a single being- dead or alive- with him. Just strings. 

He reached out his hands to touch them, and he did, the strings moved like normal strings when he touched them. He looked at his own hand, he gasped. There it was, a red string. And not one, but two, neatly tied red strings to his pinky. He couldn't believe it, he had them himself! Arthur gently pulled on them, a big grin on. his face, and he felt something pull from the other end, too. It was then he noticed something odd, his other arm- the one where the strings were attached to- was faintly transparent, and glowing lightly orange. He blinked, suddenly very confused.

 

Loud and repeating BEEPS woke him up. He jolted upward, eyes wide. He stared at his hand, confirming that he only had one.

“Just … a dream…?” he sighed with disappointment, bringing his only hand to his hair, tugging on it gently. Then picked up the phone. “9.02AM. Not too bad... “ he threw his legs out of the bed and stood up. He wasn't feeling as bad as he usually did in the mornings, he felt lighter. After he finished breakfast he tinkered on the arm one last time, before deciding that it was finally finished.

“Finally going outside?” Lance was sitting on the couch, watching TV. “I see you finished on your arm too. Good. Means you can come back and help me at the shop.” Arthur nodded, quickly waving goodbye.

“Bye Uncle Lance.”

“Stay safe out there, Arthur.”

 

He knew It was a quite a walk to the restaurant, and his new arm was a little heavy. A cold breeze brushed his face, and an immediate shiver ran up his spine. It wasn’t particularly cold, but the fact that he hadn’t been outside for a few days did take a small toll on him. He got back inside and grabbed a hoodie that was laying on the floor, he wasn’t sure how clean it was but it was good enough. “People will stare at my hand if they notice it…” He muttered to himself while grabbing a pair of gloves and putting them on. He still couldn’t see a string on his finger. 

Arthur was glad that his arm was covered. While he did want to show it off to his friends, he didn’t want strangers to stare at him weirdly. He knew that he’d probably get uncomfortable enough by the stares that he’d quickly leave just after getting there. He was hoping that Vivi and Lewis wouldn’t notice the fact that he had two working arms again- suddenly, blue hair was sticking out in the distance outside of Pepper Paradiso. The blue hair could only belong to one person,and the fact that the person looked to be running around and either bugging or chatting with the other guests only confirmed it more- Vivi. But she didn’t seem to notice him yet, so he sneaked by and stood where she wouldn’t see him. ‘Wait, why am I hiding away from her?’ he thought. ‘ I should just… Actually yeah let’s just stand a bit further away.’ 

When he finally sat down inside, he noticed how stressed the workers seemed. The waiters were barely even looking at the customers, and every now and then you could hear cusses from the kitchen, most likely from the busy cooks. Arthur hoped everything was alright in there.

“So what will it be today?” He snapped his head to the waiter that was standing by his table, not even looking at him. 

“Uhm- S-surprise me?” He stuttered out, realizing that it was no other than Lewis Pepper standing there, not even acknowledging that it was him he was serving.

“Alright. Anything to drink while you’re waiting?” Lewis was just staring at the notes.

“No, n-no thank you.” And then he left. Arthur was almost shocked by the fact that Lewis didn’t notice him. ‘Maybe he’s already forgotten? No- No he would never forget me just like that!’ He chuckled nervously, desperately trying to shove that thought away. ‘He’s just stressed! Besides, I didn’t even really greet him so that he would see him! Snap the fuck out of it Arthur c’mon! Everything is okay!’

“Arthur…?” He heard a small voice beside him say, which snapped him back into reality. “Are you okay?” It was Paprika, she looked at him worriedly.

“Y-yeah I’m alright. I can feel the stress in here heh, a lot of people today?”

“Yeah, My family is running around the kitchen and Lewis is running and taking orders… I really think he should take a break…”

“Agreed…” Arthur nodded a bit, he felt worried for the Pepper’s. He glanced at Paprika’s hand, and a small smile appeared on his face, for there was a small red thread on her little finger. Her eyes lit up suddenly.

“-I’ll be right back!” She scuttled away to the kitchen. He waited there for a few more minutes- probably around 10- when she came back and tugged on his hand to make him follow. “Your hand feels weird- Close your eyes!!” He jolted when she raised her voice, but went along and covered his eyes with his other hand.

“ARTHUR?!” He heard two familiar voices shout in union. He snapped away his hand, the first thing he saw was the table, which had three dishes on it. The second thing he saw were Vivi and Lewis scrambling up come to him. 

“You showed up! I can’t believe calling Lance actually did something!”  
“We were so worried you wouldn’t show up! I’m so sorry for not noticing you before Paprika pointed it out!” Both of them were tightly hugging him as if they hadn’t seen him in years. He hadn’t realised how much he had missed their hugs until now. “How’s your arm- Oh my gods you’re using it! So it worked out well anyway, huh?” 

“Y-yeah, it’s working properly- but be careful with me I’ve basically been a cryptid for the last week-”

“Oh hell no! I’m not letting go of my Arty just yet!” Vivi hugged him tighter, almost felt like a death grip for the poor boy. Lewis was lightly swaying them side to side while he was hugging them, they almost felt like they were floating.

“E-hem. The food is cooling.” Ms. Pepper was standing behind them, arms crossed. “I hope you enjoy your meals.” 

 

“Soo… Arty, now that your arm is done… Do you remember what we were going to talk about?” Vivi had already finished her food at that point, the other two were still eating. 

“No-” he was about to say that he didn’t, when he remembered. His face went red. “O-oh.” 

“Vivi, let him eat. Arthur, aren’t you hot in that?”

“He’s always hot, Lew-”

“Viv-! Warm! Isn’t it a bit too warm to wear a jacket and gloves in here?” Lewis corrected himself. Arthur shifted a bit awkwardly. 

“A little, but I don’t want people starin’...”

“Why would they stare?”

“Because of my arm?”

“So what? We don’t want you to sweat to death after about eating the chili you’re about to eat.” And he bit into it. After a few tears and glasses of water they got back to the conversation. 

“Alright, fine, just don’t stare too much…” He said as he was taking of the gloves and hoodie. He felt better, but also very exposed.

“Ooo it looks so cool!” Arthur could swear there were stars in her eyes as she said it. “You’ve gotta show us how it works later!”

“Yeah Arthur, I’m very interested to see how it works too.” Lewis was smiling, and it only made Arthur more bashful. He couldn’t believe how cute they were.

“A-alright… I’ll show you when this whole event is over…”

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo.... I haven't written in a while so forgive me for being a bit rusty, but hey! First chapter! I hope you'll enjoy this story and I hope that I'll keep on writing it. Please do leave a comment if you like it, it really gives me more motivation to write more! And don't worry, things will get worse for them~
> 
> Enjoy your stay!


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